‘This Was a Very Different Response,’ Noem Says Regarding Texas Floods

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem praised the rapid response of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security to the Texas flash floods on both NBC News and Fox News Sunday morning.

Noem defended the speed at which her department deployed resources, despite claims that it took longer to send them due to her new policy requiring all FEMA contracts and grants above $100,000 be approved by her.

“Within just an hour or two after the flooding, we had resources from the Department of Homeland Security there helping those individuals in Texas,” Noem told Kristen Welker, host of “Meet the Press.” 

According to Noem, the policy is widely used throughout the DHS “for accountability purposes.”

“I want that accountability in place because it’s the taxpayer dollars, and we need to know that when those dollars are going out to help communities, it’s actually getting there,” Noem said.

Noem recalled the lack of aid when hurricanes hit North Carolina and Florida in recent years. 

“What is different about Texas is that FEMA operated how President [Donald] Trump wanted it to operate,” Noem declared. “We didn’t go there and manage it. We went there and allowed the local officials to manage it. We’re there to support and give them what resources they need.” 

Noem said this was the fastest in years, maybe even decades, that FEMA was deployed to help individuals in flash floods, with the agency having over 700 individuals on the ground in Texas. 

“We didn’t just deploy FEMA. We deployed our Coast Guard and Border Patrol Tactical Unit teams,” Noem said. “Border Patrol was amazing.”

This was a very different response than typical federal government disaster responses because there were “so many different agencies” that immediately responded, Noem said.

In response to Welker’s question about whether Trump will move to completely eradicate FEMA, Noem said he will not.

“The president recognizes that FEMA should not exist the way that it always has been,” Noem explained. “It needs to be redeployed in a new way, and that’s what we did during this response.”

In a X post from Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., he said Trump and Noem fired the people answering FEMA calls so that 65% of calls went unanswered on July 6 and 85% weren’t answered on July 7.

“It’s an absolute lie,” Noem told Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday.” “Everybody was there answering calls and doing all they could to help the people of Texas.”

Noem said it’s “absolutely despicable” that Democrats are politicizing the situation while “people are still looking for their babies” and family members.

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